


August Rain in Austin

by lonewolf255



Series: August Rain in Austin [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: F/M, RTX
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-02-25 19:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2633516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonewolf255/pseuds/lonewolf255
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A constant, unexpected rain falls during the scheduled RTX convention, and threatens to put a damper on everyone's good mood. Not to mention that strange things are starting to happen around the convention site. But rain can create good memories as well as bad; what will this unusual rain leave behind in its wake?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Unusual Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Before I get this party started, I would like to dedicate this entire work to my best friend and my biggest fan. darkrose705, this one's for you!

It was time. A week left before RTX, and the frantic rush to get the convention center prepared had begun. Everyone was bustling around with cables for this, tables for that, promotions for the up and coming RWBY season, and so on.  
Due to the great amount of preparation going on, hardly anyone was in the actual office, since most were focusing their efforts on helping with the convention. This was the case for Ray Narvaez, Jr. The youngest achievement hunter member was busy stocking some of the merchandising tables with items, going back and forth with boxes full of RT products.  
As one of the quietest of the group, he was determined to keep to the task, but in the end couldn’t avoid chatting while he worked. “Excited for this year’s convention, X-Ray?” Coworker Gavin Free teased as he helped Ray carry some merchandise to the table.  
“Yeah, of course! I’m always happy to meet with the fans,” the native New Yorker replied with a grin. “Not to mention the fact that Markiplier is going to be here this year too, so maybe we’ll get to hang out with him while he’s here.”  
“Oh yeah, that guy you met up with at PAX? Cool, can’t wait to meet ‘im myself!” Gavin said cheerily. “So everything’s all set, huh?”  
“Yeah, he said he got his pass alright, and he’ll be here the day before the convention starts, so everything worked out okay.” Ray rambled as they began taking things out of the boxes and neatly arranged them onto the tables.  
Just then, a furious roar that could only be from the rage king Michael Jones himself cut across their conversation, obviously distressed about something. “GAVIN YOU PIECE OF SHIT, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” You could hear the venom in his voice, but instead of fear, Gavin only seemed pleased by the reaction.  
Gavin half-squawked, half-laughed as he said “Oh, Micool saw it, I’m in trouble now! Cheers, Ray!” And with that, the Brit ran off like a child, with an angry Michael right behind him.  
“Gavin, you asshole! I TOLD you not to mess with the banners, you idiot!” Michael’s voice could still be heard as he chased his friend down the hallway.  
Ray just watched them both run off with an amused expression on his face. “Those two, I swear…” he sighed, then went back to what he was doing, walking back to the front to see if there were any more boxes. If not, he would find something else to help out with; there was no lack of work this time around.  
He neared the area where the boxes used to be, but there were no more to be found. “No more boxes, huh? Guess I’ll go find Geoff and see what he wants me to do,” Ray said to himself as he spun around in search of his employer. Instead, he ended up running into Jack Pattillo.  
“Hey Ray, mind helping me out with some of these banners while you’re here? Michael was supposed to help but he ran off.” Jack explained as he struggled to hold onto some of the promotional posters and banners. Ray nodded his consent and reached out to take some of them.  
As they continued walking, Ray noticed that some of the posters looked crumpled and ripped at the edges. “What the hell happened to those?”  
Jack sighed. “Fucking Gavin messed up the posters! We told him not to touch anything until we got back from bringing in the merch boxes, but I guess it was too big a request for his tiny mind to process.”  
Ray chuckled. “So that’s what that was about. Gavin…” Shaking his head, he asked “You see Geoff anywhere? I was going to see what else he needed me to do when I’m finished helping you.”  
“Yeah, he’s with Ryan setting up the main hall, I’ll take you to them after this.” Jack replied as they reached their destination and began putting up the posters. As it turns out, they didn’t have to go anywhere because not too long after, both Geoff Ramsey and Ryan Haywood met up with them. Both seemed caught up in an animated discussion.  
“You guys are not going to believe this!” Geoff announced as he and Ryan approached the working duo.  
“What’s up, Geoff?” Jack called behind him without looking away from his work.  
“Just checked the weather for this weekend. Apparently it’s going to rain for most of the convention, and hard. It’s gonna be a fuckin’ downpour!” Geoff announced, holding up his smartphone as proof.  
“What the hell?” Now Jack turned away from the wall and looked back and forth between Geoff, Ryan, and Ray. “It hasn’t rained once in weeks, and now it’s gonna pour? Of course it would rain during RTX!” he added with an exasperated laugh.  
Ryan shrugged. “At least it might be cooler during the rain. It’s been unbearable lately.”  
“Yeah, I guess. I just hope the fans have enough common sense to bring an umbrella while they wait in line to get in.” Ray commented with a shrug.  
\--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---  
“Damn, it’s raining!” Shantel Thomas commented as she looked out from the airport terminal. “I thought it didn’t rain a lot out here? Isn’t this like a desert place or something?” An irritated sigh.  
Her sister Hazel simply laughed. “Apparently not. Come on, let’s call a taxi or something, I wanna check out the hotel!”  
Shan turned a wide smile on her sister. “Yeah, let’s go then! Umm… Do you know how to call a cab?” she asked with a sheepish grin.  
Hazel sighed. “Wow, you fail as the older sibling.” She then pulled out her smartphone and started searching for a means of transportation. “Looks like we don’t even need one; there’s a bus that goes past the hotel, we can take that. You have bus fare, right?”  
Shan straightened up, looking more proud of herself than she should have. “Yeah!” She pulled out a fold of dollar bills as if to prove her worth.  
Hazel’s eyes widened as she snatched the money while looking around to make sure no one saw them. “Idiot, we don’t know these people! You wanna get mugged during our first ten minutes here?”  
“Shut up, I am smart!” Shan grumbled in irritation.  
The younger sister sighed and shook her head. “What you gain in book smarts you seriously lack in common sense. Let’s go find the bus terminal so we know we’re getting on the right one. It’s supposed to be here soon, according to the schedule.”  
After wandering aimlessly for ten minutes, Shan finally worked up the courage to ask an airport worker where the bus terminal was. “Sorry, I don’t fly very often, so this is kind of new to me,” she explained in an embarrassed tone.  
The attendant was helpful, though perhaps a bit irritated at the girl’s lack of common sense; he merely pointed to the overhead signs and explained how to follow them to the bus outlet.  
They trudged out to the waiting area for the incoming bus. Shan looked up into the storming sky with reluctance. “Hazel. I think we’re gonna get wet.”  
Hazel was looking up too. “Yeah…”  
“We should have brought an umbrella with us.”  
“Yeah.”  
“Or at least a rain poncho.”  
“…Yes, Shan, I know.”  
“Should we go buy one?”  
Hazel finally looked over at her sister with an amused look. “Gee, Shan, I don’t know. Should we buy an umbrella, or suffer in the rain?” But by the time they had decided to turn back and get an umbrella, the bus was already arriving, and they had to edge through a crowd of waiting people to get on.  
“I wonder if all of these people are here for RTX tomorrow,” Shan commented as they stood on the bus (there were no more available seats by the time they boarded).  
“Probably not, there’s other reasons to be coming to Austin. But I’m sure some of these people are here for the same reason we are.” Hazel reasoned. The bus stopped to let off some people, leaving a couple of seats open. Shan eyed the seats longingly.  
“Should we go sit down, or let someone else sit down?” As she asked that question, the seats were immediately taken. “Oh, dammit. Never mind.”  
Hazel laughed at her older sister. “We just have to be quicker next time.”  
“I guess,” Shan sighed. “Whatever. Today is just not my day.”  
“Yeah, but just think; we’re in Austin Texas! We’re going to our first ever RTX, and it’s gonna be awesome!” Hazel tried to cheer her sister up.  
A small smile appeared on her face. “Yeah, you’re right. I can’t let anything ruin this trip. Besides, I think that Mark is really going to be at the convention! I’m gonna try to meet him, I’m really going to go up and introduce myself! It makes me a little nervous,” she said with an excited laugh.  
“Just try not to stalk him, alright?” Hazel teased playfully.  
“Hmph! I won’t, I swear! I’m gonna play it cool, like really cool; all laid-back and whatnot. It’ll be smooth,” she spread her hand over an invisible flat surface, earning another laugh from her sister. “Ahaha, don’t laugh! I’m being serious!”  
“I know you are, that’s the funny part.”  
“Oh, shut up. You’d better be paying attention to what stop we need to get off.” Shan said with a laugh.  
“I am, I am. We get off on the next stop.” Hazel said, and with that, pulled the cord to signal the bus to let them off next.  
As soon as the bus neared their destination, Shan looked up again at the rain beating down on the earth. “We are about to be showered, my sister. But whatever, the Thomas family has never bothered with umbrellas in the rain before, and we are not going to start now!”  
“Shut up and get ready to run, Shan.” Hazel said, pulling her luggage closer and bracing herself for the cold rain to soak through her clothes as soon as they would be outside. And they did run; as the bus pulled to a stop, several people got off, apparently also heading for the hotel.  
The group ran for the hotel, though everyone else had the comfort of an umbrella to shield them from some of the rain. “Man, I thought the bus would pull closer to the hotel, not down the street from it!” Shan complained, with her luggage over her head as if that would keep her dry.  
“It’s just our luck, isn’t it?” Hazel agreed as they ran. Once inside the safety of the hotel lobby, both girls assessed the damage to their wardrobe. “It looks like we’ve been through a car wash,”  
“Yeah, really. Let’s just check in so we can get into some dry clothes,” Shan said as the approached the front desk. Behind the desk was a pleasant and cheerful desk clerk. She smiled at the girls as they approached, then her smile turned into a sympathetic look.  
“Oh no, looks like you guys got caught in the rain.” She commented lightly.  
“Yeah, it hasn’t let up since we’ve been here.” Hazel commented as she pulled out her confirmation code for their reservation. It was sticking to everything in her wallet due to her hands being wet. “Ugh, hang on…”  
“You know, it hasn’t rained at all this month, and now apparently it’s going to pour on and off this weekend. It’s really unusual for this time of year, too.” The woman said casually as they patiently waited for Hazel to find the paper.  
“It figures. My first time in Texas, my first RTX convention, and the world decides to drown Austin Texas with rain.” Shan sighed.  
“Well it might not be so bad. It’s like a rare occurrence, so maybe it will be good luck for you guys! This is going to be your best trip yet!” The clerk said with forced optimism. Both girls looked at her for a minute before they all started chuckling. “Okay, maybe it’s not good luck. But at least you guys are here, you might as well enjoy the time away.”  
Hazel nodded. “True. Here’s our confirmation.” The clerk took it, glanced at the slightly smudged numbers and then turned to the computer to bring their reservation up.  
“So you guys are here for that convention too? A lot of people came in talking about it this morning. You might run into them during your stay.” She commented as she handed them their card keys. “Here you go, room 215. Make sure to stay dry, wouldn’t want to catch a cold before your convention!”  
The sisters thanked the woman and headed for the elevator with their baggage. “She was pretty nice,” Shan commented. “Although I guess that’s her job, to be conversational. I don’t think I like people enough to be nice to them all day like that.”  
Hazel nudged her sister with a laugh. “You get used to dealing with people at work, trust me.” They entered the elevator and pressed the button for the second floor. Other people came in behind them.  
Shan shrugged. “You’re right, I guess I can deal with people when I’m working too. But regardless, she said that other people were here for the convention too! If that’s true, we should try to meet up with them, then maybe we can a whole group to go to the convention together! That way we can make sure that we don’t get lost!”  
“Most people go to conventions to make friends, Shan, not to make sure they don’t get lost.”  
“And we will make friends! But first, we have to make sure we get there, am I right? Anyway, this is a new experience; I’m going to actually try talking to people this time!”  
“This from the girl that just a minute ago said she hates people,” Hazel laughed.  
They reached the second floor and as they and several other people stepped out, one man waited patiently for them to pass before he walked into the now empty elevator. “Excuse me,” he said with a polite smile as he walked past them.  
Shan’s eyes widened and she gripped her sister’s arm; before either girl could say anything, the elevator doors closed, leaving them staring at the wall. “Hazel, that was Mark wasn’t it? D-didn’t it look like him?” she asked in a loud whisper.  
“Yeah, I think so. It sounded like him.” Hazel cheerily patted her sister on the back. “Look at that, Shan, you got to meet Markiplier after all, and the convention hasn’t even started yet!”  
A defeated sigh. “We didn’t even get to say hello… I was too busy trying to get to the room, and then I was locked into a fan-girlish shock. How pathetic…” They started heading for their room.  
“But that means that he’s most likely staying at this hotel, and on the same floor as us! We can try to get him and a big group together to go to the convention tomorrow!” Hazel suggested as they walked into their room. “That was the plan anyway, wasn’t it? Now we can just try to include him too.”  
“Yeah, if I remember how to speak the next time we see him. No more fan-girl moments! From now on, I’m gonna be cool.”  
“Smooth?” Hazel asked, mimicking the hand gesture her sister had made earlier.  
“Hmph, just you watch! I will be as smooth as silk!” Grabbing a towel and dry clothes, she headed for the bathroom. “I’m gonna check out the shower first, okay?” She shut the door before her sister could reply.  
Hazel didn’t hesitate to change into something dry. After getting into some comfortable clothes, she walked up to the window, watching the rain pelt down onto the sidewalk, large raindrops continually streaking across the glass. “I really hope the weather channel was wrong. Just stop already, will you? There’s so much I want to see before the convention tomorrow!” she pleaded to the rain, but it stubbornly continued on. “Fine, have it your way. I like the rain,” she huffed indignantly, continually gazing out into the bleak daylight.  
Just a few blocks away, Ray stared out listlessly at the unceasing rain from the inside of the convention center. There were still last minute details to touch up on for tomorrow’s schedule. “Just stop already, asshole,” he sighed at the weather. “Well, better get the wet floor signs ready for tomorrow. It’s going to be a mess.”  
He finally turned away from the sight of the dreary streets and went back to helping Geoff set up the cables in the first panel room. He greeted Ray with a warm smile.  
“Can you help me carry the tables onto the stage? Thanks, Ray,” Geoff said as he and the younger man strode out of the room in search of the needed tables. “Now where the hell did Gavin get off to? He was supposed to be helping too.”  
Ray shrugged. “He probably got roped into helping Jack look for those cables that Brandon lost.” The Puerto Rican shook his head. “Figures Brandon would lose them, they’re probably hidden somewhere in one of the supply closets.”  
Geoff laughed at that. “Wouldn’t surprise me a bit.” Both men grabbed one end of the first table and started to carry it back into the first panel room. “Hey, so how have you been, Ray? You seemed a bit out of it this week,” Geoff said with genuine concern.  
“Yeah, I’m fine, Geoff. It’s nothing serious. Everything will sort itself out,” Ray replied in a vague manner; no use worrying Geoff about his personal problems.  
“Well, I’m not gonna try to force it out of you. Just know that if there’s something bothering you, if there’s anything that I can do to help, I want you to tell me. I want to help you. You’re always so quiet, it’s hard to tell when something’s wrong. But I just wanted you to know that.” They set down the first table gently and started walking back for the second one.  
“I know, and I appreciate it. But everything’s fine!” Ray shot his boss a convincing smile. “I promise.”  
Geoff gave Ray a knowing look. “Okay then. But seriously, if there was something, don’t be afraid to ask for help. You can count on us. Well, I guess I can’t speak for everyone, but you can count on me.”  
They grew silent as they approached the second table; there was nothing left to say on the matter. Soon, Geoff went back to chatting about the weather. “I really can’t believe it’s raining this hard. It usually clears up after an hour, but this has been going on all morning! I wonder if that’s a bad sign.”  
“Or a good one.” Ray countered. It was a rare occurrence, this downpour of August rain in Austin. With it came the underlying feeling of untold potential; trapped in the clouds was another world, and maybe another chance. Waiting in the unceasing torrents outside was a new story to unfold, a tale still left untold, humming to the beat of the raindrops.


	2. First Meeting

“Let’s go do something!” Shan whined after both girls were showered and comfortable in their hotel room.   
“Sounds good, where should we go?” Hazel asked as she listlessly flipped through the TV channels. “There’s an outlet mall that we can take the bus to,” she looked down at her phone with directions. “We need to take bus 10 to the Hancock Shopping Center. Bus doesn’t get here for another hour though.”  
“Hmm…” Shan sighed, as if trying to think of something else to do in the meantime, but judging by the way she was carrying on, Hazel had a feeling that her older sister already had a plan.   
“What is it, Shan?”  
“Nothing, I just wonder what we could do while we wait. Hmm…” Hazel shook her head at her sister’s persistence, but decided to go along, just to mess with her.  
“Well, we could just watch some TV while we wait,” the younger sister suggested lightly, knowing that Shan would protest.  
“Mmm… No, why don’t we do something else?” Shan asked, taking the bait.  
“Well, what else can we do? Did you have something in mind?” Hazel used a tone that one would use on an indecisive child in order to tease her sister. Shan merely huffed at the tone.  
“Hmph. Yes, I do have an idea! Why don’t we, umm…” she trailed off as if to think about how to ask. “Why don’t we go Markiplier hunting?” she suggested brightly, as if the thought had just popped into her mind. Hazel sighed; she’d had a feeling that Mark was somehow involved…  
“Remember, you promised no stalking.” Hazel chuckled.   
“It’s not stalking! What if this is our only chance ever to meet and talk to him? We need to take advantage of this! Besides, how will we ever ask him if he wants to go to RTX in a group tomorrow if we don’t ask now?” Shan was starting to get into a hyperactive state of agitation. Hazel knew that she would be almost unbearable for the rest of the day if this didn’t end quickly.  
So she reluctantly agreed. “Alright, fine. But just remember that he probably already left the hotel because he had things to do. So we might not even get a chance to see him before we go to the shopping center. Plus, you might wanna figure out what you’re gonna say to him so you don’t freeze up like earlier,” Hazel reprimanded.  
“Well, I will figure out what to say when the time comes. And you’re gonna talk to him too, so we should both figure something out.” Before Hazel could say another word, Shan had grabbed her hand and was pulling her through the now-open door. “Come on, let’s go for a walk! We’ll just kind of wander the hallway for some exercise, then we can go to the lobby and… look around.”  
“Sure Shan, whatever you say,” Hazel laughed. She was pretty sure that Mark was long gone by now, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to humor the older Thomas a little. They paced up and down the corridor for a bit. Shan seemed to be studying every corner, every imperfection in the wallpaper, every carpet fiber.   
Hazel quickly grew bored with their surroundings and checked her phone, hoping that time was going quicker than it felt. It wasn’t; they had only been pacing for five minutes, and already the younger sister was becoming impatient with the task. “Hey, wanna check the lobby now?” she asked.  
Shan hesitated. “Well… sure, let’s explore the downstairs part. I think this place has a pool and an exercise room, so we should investigate there too!” They walked to the elevator and pressed the down button, waiting for it to arrive.   
Hazel thought for a minute before saying “I think it’s an outdoor pool, Shan. Didn’t we see it on our way in?” Shan bit her lip before nodding in agreement. “I thought so. Guess we can cross that off our list. No one will want to go swimming today,” Hazel added, looking out again at the steady stream of rain coming down.  
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Well, we can still look around the exercise room. We’ve got nothing better to do, after all…” Shan reasoned, not losing her sense of urgency as she strode out of the elevator with purpose, Hazel trailing behind her in defeat.  
Of course, the exercise room search proved to be pointless, just as the younger Thomas had expected. “Not a soul in here, eh? How disappointing. You’d think some of these people would wanna keep in shape,” Shan observed as they walked into the empty room of exercise equipment.  
“I guess everyone’s too hyped for RTX to work out? I don’t know…” Hazel said, and turned to leave. When she realized that her sister wasn’t behind her, she turned her head to look over her shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?” Shan had climbed on top of one of the stepping machines and was currently looking for a way to turn it on.  
“Wait a minute…” She found the on switch and hit it, starting to walk on the platforms as she did so. “How do you make this go faster…?” She tried to run at a faster pace, but the machine was forcing her to stay constant. “Lame, I think it’s broken.”  
Hazel laughed. “Or maybe you’re not doing it right.” She watched her sister turn off the machine and pause at the center of the room.  
“Let’s do this!” She cried suddenly, skipping to one of the treadmills and jumping on.   
“Let’s do what?”  
“Work out! Only until someone else comes. Maybe everyone’s just shy about working out alone and we can motivate more people to come in! It’s like free advertisement,” Shan tried to explain.  
Hazel looked at her older sibling with an amused smirk. “I don’t think so, Shan; I doubt that anyone cares who’s watching them work out. Most people just do it to stay in shape, regardless of who’s around.”  
Shan shrugged. “Then let’s just do it for fun.” She started running on the treadmill, and almost stumbled when it started to outpace her in return. Returning the treadmill to a fast-walking pace, she smiled brightly at her younger sibling. “Come on, just for a minute!”  
Hazel shrugged and walked to the treadmill next to Shan. “Yeah, yeah…”  
As they jogged on their respective treadmills, Shan shot a sideways smirk at her sister as she not-so-discreetly sped up her machine again. Noting the challenge, Hazel did the same, and they both kept increasing the speed until they were running faster than either was used to, but also daring the other to stop first.  
“Hey, we’re gonna break the machines!” Shan whined, trying to get Hazel to slow down first, but the younger brunette saw through the trick.   
“You don’t get to complain when you started this. You knew what would happen,” Hazel challenged back, and so they kept going, both starting to break into sweats. Soon, Shan’s naturally curly hair was starting to get frizzy, and even Hazel’s wavy locks started to look sloppy.  
“My hair! Fine, you win,” Shan pouted, slowing her machine until she was at a slow walk, then turned it off and stepped away. Hazel did likewise, a smug grin on her face as she silently gloated at her victory.  
“Okay, whatever, you won,” Shan sighed into the wall mirror as she tried in vain to fix her hair, which now resembled a mane of dark brown. Frustrated, she threw her hair into a ponytail and pointed an accusing finger at Hazel. “But I bet I can lift more than you! Weight machine, let’s go!”  
Hazel shook her head. “Shan, you do remember that I took weight training in high school while you took a gym waiver, right?” Shan merely scowled down at her sister and didn’t answer. Just then, a guy dressed in workout gear appeared at the door and started to situate himself on the weight machine in question. Hazel nodded to the door and Shan followed her out of the room into the lobby.  
“Hey, it worked! Someone showed up!” Shan cheered as they headed for the lobby, her loss forgotten.   
“Um, Shan, I think that guy was going to go in and work out whether we were there or not,” Hazel replied, obviously entertained.  
“Well still, we helped convince him!” Shan insisted stubbornly, causing Hazel to shake her head.   
“Yeah, okay Shan.” They walked into the lobby, and Shan immediately wandered into the breakfast bar area. “You wanna keep checking out the hotel, huh? Alright.”  
“Well, how much time now until the bus gets here?” Shan asked, still distracted with looking around, muttering to herself about what table to sit at the next morning.  
Hazel checked her phone. “It’s getting close to time now, we have about twenty-five minutes left until it gets here. We should probably go to the bus stop soon,”  
“And wait outside in this downpour, for twenty minutes? Pass,” Shan snorted, then smiled in triumph. “Let’s try to sit here in the morning; it’s the perfect position for being next to the breakfast bar, yet still secluded enough to be private, and has a great view of the door in case, oh I dunno, someone happens to come eat before the convention…”  
“Jeez, Shan. You put way too much thought into this table; alright, we can sit here. And I didn’t say we should leave now, I said soon. At the very least we should go to the room and make sure that we have everything.” Hazel commented.  
“Yeah, okay… fine.” Shan sighed, reluctantly following Hazel through the lobby. “What’s at that mall, anyway, like what stores? Can you look it up?”  
Hazel looked down at her phone as she walked. “Yeah, sure.” Then changing the conversation slightly, she commented “You know, I actually don’t mind the rain too much. It’s not so bad.”  
Shan groaned. “Yeah, I forgot. You always liked the rain. I don’t mind it at night when I’m about to go to sleep. It’s really peaceful listening to the raindrops against the house then, but it’s not so awesome when you wanna actually go out and do something, you know? It’s dreadful.”  
Hazel was about to reply, but when looking up from her phone she froze in her tracks. Shan, who had kept walking, bumped into her and almost made both girls tumble onto the floor. “Hey! What the hell…” Then she saw what had made Hazel stop.  
Mark had returned to the inn. What’s more, he had a guest. A familiar looking, dark-haired guest. Shan gripped Hazel’s elbow fiercely as Mark and Ray made their way to the elevator, unaware of the girls’ attention on them. They seemed to be deep in conversation.  
“Go go go,” Shan hissed into her sister’s ear as she pushed Hazel forward toward the elevators after them. It didn’t take too much prodding for the younger girl to obey, soon they were both swiftly walking after their heroes, holding fast to their hope as they went.  
\--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---  
Ray was finishing the equipment setup with Geoff when he felt his phone vibrate. A quizzical expression crossed his face as he pulled his phone out to see who had just texted him. “Hey, I’m in town. If you’re not busy, we should hang out!” Ray checked who had sent him the message; it was from Mark.  
His eyebrows raised, and he immediately looked over to Geoff. “Yo, Geoff, we almost done here?” he called to his boss.  
Geoff stepped back to view their work, checking to see if everything was in proper order. “Yeah, we’re done here. If you have somewhere else to be, you can go.”  
“Thanks, Geoff. See you later,” Ray responded, striding toward the door. He texted back “Yeah, sounds good. Where do you want to meet up?”  
Fifteen minutes later, Ray found himself sitting across from his friend in the Messhall Café, a small eatery not too far from the Inn that Mark was staying at. He smiled at the dark-haired man in front of him. “So, how have you been?” The Puerto Rican asked, suppressing his inner fanboy in the process; he was such a fan of Mark’s work, it was hard to believe that they were on friendly terms, even now. “Of course, that’s how you network, Ray. It’s not unheard of,” his more practical side reminded him.  
Mark flashed him a charming smile back and said in an animated voice “Everything has been going great these past few months, and I’m so excited to be in Austin! I really love all the travel.” Then, bringing his voice back within the realm of his usual speaking voice. “Besides, it’s really cool to see you again. I’m looking forward to the Achievement Hunter panel. I get to see you in action!”   
“No, please, the pressure!” Ray joked, just barely suppressing the very real flush in his cheeks that he felt at the thought of Markiplier himself watching him play from the audience. But the joke subverted his anxiety at present, and got a laugh out of Mark in the process.   
“Aww, you’ll be fine!” Mark said with a wave of his hand, his energetic brown eyes flashing in amusement. The waiter arrived with their drinks, took their orders, and swiftly walked away again to the kitchen.  
“Oh, so where are you staying while you’re out here, anyway?” Ray asked nonchalantly. Mark shrugged in response.  
“It’s not far from here, actually. The La Quinta Inn, about a block away.” Mark shrugged again. “Not a bad place to stay.”  
“No, there’s definitely worse places,” Ray commented absently, his own mind wandering to a less-than-pleasant Motel Six visit that he’d endured when he was eleven. “Next time you can stay at my place, if you’re ever down this way again. I’m actually surprised you didn’t stay somewhere closer to the convention site. There’s hotels all down the street.”  
Mark chuckled. “Well, I really didn’t want to impose. Plus, I uhh… *ahem* I kinda procrastinated on getting a hotel, and that was the closest thing left,” More laughter from the two of them before he went on. “But that sounds like an invitation if I’ve ever heard one. I might have to take you up on that one day, Ray.”  
“Please do,” Ray replied in a cheery manner, and he truly meant it. Eventually their food arrived and the two men chatted happily about recent videos and games that they were excited about. Ray even consented to possibly enjoying a playthrough of Minecraft if Mark was somehow involved.  
“Aww, stop it. I know how much you said you hated that game,” Mark joked.  
Ray shrugged in response. “Take that as a compliment to yourself, Mark.”  
They were finishing up their meal and determining what to do next (while also flagging down their waiter for their respective checks) when Mark suddenly entered a state of agitation. “Oh no… You’re kidding me!” he mumbled to himself as he checked his backpack.  
“Oh, really?” Mark exclaimed with a short laugh. He looked up at Ray with a smile that was equal parts irritated and disbelieving.   
Ray’s brows furrowed. “What happened, leave your wallet?” It didn’t bother the Puerto Rican at all; it would be an honor to pay for his hero’s lunch.  
“No, no. It’s not that,” Mark explained, holding up his wallet as proof. “I did forget something back in my room, though. Since you gave me that Rooster Teeth shirt last time we met up, I got you something to return the favor. But stupid Markiplier forgot the shirt!”   
Ray grinned. “Referring to yourself in third person now, huh? Well thanks, you didn’t have to get me a shirt.”  
Mark grinned sheepishly. “Yeah I know, but I wanted to. Anyway, do you mind coming with me to go get it? If not I can just bring it tomorrow, like whatever. It’s no big deal.”   
Ray shrugged as they paid their bills and stood from the table. “Yeah, that’s fine with me. Actually, we can just hang out in your room until something better comes along. I don’t have anything else to do,” he suggested as they boldly confronted the worsening storm with umbrellas in hand.  
“Oh, sure! Yeah, we can do that, good idea. Maybe I can put a vlog out with both of us, just for the fans.” Mark was already happily brainstorming ideas of things that they could record together. Ray merely listened to him talk on and on, nodding occasionally in agreement. He was also formulating plans for the rest of the day, such as hanging out in Mark’s room for a while and then they could go back to Ray’s place for some Twitch streaming. He was sure that Mark would like that idea.  
“So, uhh, you walked here in this maelstrom?” Ray asked as they struggled to reach the entrance of the Inn.  
“Unfortunately, yes.” Mark laughed. His cheerful disposition was in stark contrast to their grey surroundings. “It couldn’t be helped, you know? The weather is going to do what it does.” Ray was quiet for a moment too long, having lapsed into deep thought as they entered the dry interior of the La Quinta and closed their umbrellas. Mark noticed right away. “So you too, huh?”  
Ray shot him a sideways glance. “…Yeah. So I guess you know already?”  
The native Hawaiian nodded. “Uh-huh. I got the same call.”  
The Puerto Rican hesitated before asking. “So what did you tell them?”  
Mark shrugged, a light-hearted smile on his face. “Well, I thought about it for two days straight. I swear, even doing Let’s Plays, it was in the back of my mind. And then, I just decided that it wasn’t going to work for me. I’m kind of happy where I am in life right now, so I’m just riding it out and taking whatever opportunities come my way.” He looked at Ray with a meaningful glance. “Looks like you haven’t decided just yet.”  
Ray groaned. “No. I really just need more time to think.” They were almost in the elevator; both men thought that they heard rapid footsteps behind them but were too engulfed in conversation to pay much attention. “And I guess everyone at work is noticing that I’m acting different, and so they’re asking and that doesn’t help. Like, at all.”  
“Just think about it like you are and then do what feels right; it’s better to not have regrets like that. In the end, you have to be happy,” Mark advised. They stepped into the elevator, only to be accosted by two young women with dark brunette hair and chocolate brown eyes; sisters, it seemed. “Uhh… hi?” Mark greeted in uncertainty.  
The taller girl with defiant curls looked at the other girl with a question in her eyes before addressing the men with a seemingly confident smirk. “Okay boys, while we’re in here, let’s play a little game.”


	3. Let the Games Begin (A Mysterious Occurrence)

Hazel’s dark brown eyes shot over to her sister as she heard Shan speak, wondering what she was doing. “Shan…” she warned through her teeth in agitation.  
Shan seemed to be ignoring her sister, her eyes glued to her captive audience. “Well, what do you say? Shall we play?” She grinned at them expectantly.  
Both men looked equal parts curious and confused. “Uh, depends; what kind of game?” Mark inquired, raising an eyebrow. Ray merely sighed, slightly more apprehensive than his friend.  
“Well, it’s like this; according to one psychological study done, if a large group of people walked into an elevator facing a certain way, individuals would conform and face the exact same way. So that’s the game. We all face the back of the elevator and see how many unsuspecting people we can get to do the same thing as us!” Shan smiled triumphantly.  
But there were definite issues with this game. “Um, well I don’t really think that would work anymore because the study you’re talking about is widely known; it’s almost common knowledge now, so no one would fall for it, sis.” Hazel sighed.  
Then Mark piped up with another problem. “Besides, we’ve arrived to the second floor, and this is my stop. And yours too, I think…” The elevator doors opened and all four walked off of the elevator into the empty hallway.  
Shan paused for a second, still processing the failure. Then, in an undeterred voice, “So here’s the game; I’m thinking of a number between—”  
“Okay, that’s enough,” Hazel said, patting her sister on the back (hard) with one hand, her other hand over her eyes in disbelief. Of all the things that Shan could have done…  
Shan seemed to deflate visibly. “Sorry… I’m just… We are both really big fans, and I just saw an opportunity, and I took it. Sorry, I guess I got carried away,” she was smiling as she spoke, but it was obviously an attempt to mask her embarrassment.  
But Mark seemed amused by the two, all the same. “Yeah, that kind of failed. But I love meeting fans, don’t you Ray?” He turned his attention briefly to the Puerto Rican, who nodded in agreement.  
Shan seemed to straighten up at that. “In that case, you wouldn’t mind honoring just one request from me, right?”  
Mark paused. “It… depends, I guess? Maybe.” He made sure to stay noncommittal in case these girls went a little overboard with the request.  
Shan seemed to read his mind as she smiled and said “Don’t worry, it’s nothing weird or even that difficult. We’re just going to flip a coin; a regular, everyday coin,” she showed the men both sides to prove that it wasn’t a double-headed coin. “Heads we win, and we get to hang out with you guys for an hour. Tails we lose, and you can go about your day as planned.” She looked up at the m curiously. “What do you say?”  
Both men exchanged a glance until Ray just shrugged, as if to say “What the hell, why not?” They didn’t have any specific plans either way.  
Mark turned to face Shan again and shrugged too. “Sure. I’m pretty sure we got this.” A confident smile spread across his face. “But I flip the coin; no tricks,” he laughed, half joking, as he held his hand out for the quarter. Shan handed it to him and they all watched as he flipped it into the air.  
Hazel and Shan held their breath as time seemed to slow, the quarter twirling through the air until gravity once again took hold of it and it landed back into Mark’s palm. As he removed his other hand to look at the result, a sly smile crossed his face and he glanced over at  
Shan in triumph. “Looks like we have a winner.” He lowered his palm even further to reveal the backside of the coin.  
“Damn!” Shan fumed and Hazel sighed.  
“Oh well, they won fair and square,” the younger Thomas reasoned, although disappointed.  
Mark returned the coin, saying “I’m just that awesome, I can’t lose at anything! I’m not a looooser, after all.”  
“Yeah, yeah, fine!” Shan laughed. “Thanks for giving it a chance, anyway. I thought that you’d say no.”  
Mark seemed about to turn and walk away, but then his brow furrowed in thoughtfulness. Looking back at the pair of sisters, he said “You guys want to come with us anyway? We’re not doing much right now, right Ray?”  
Ray merely nodded, having become strangely quiet during the entire encounter. Mark would have been worried except that besides becoming quiet, Ray’s face didn’t betray an annoyance or distaste for the extra company. “I definitely don’t have a problem with being surrounded by pretty girls,” he quipped.  
“Surrounded, huh? There’s two of us,” Hazel piped up in response; her wit was equivalent to the torrents of rain outside, there was no simple “off” switch. She winced on the inside, suddenly very conscious of every word that she spoke. She didn’t want to leave a poor impression.  
Ray merely shrugged. “Well, you know,” he replied in that same quick-witted tone that he could never seem to put away.  
“Alright, then it has been decided! Let’s go!” Mark cried out and the group proceeded behind him as he led the way to his double room. As they piled in, Hazel made note of the small laptop setup on the corner table; Mark had come prepared.  
“A double, huh? Expecting anyone else?” Ray inquired thoughtlessly. He meant it as a joke, but Mark’s face colored slightly as he shot a sideways glance at the sisters now occupying space in the room, both sitting comfortably near each other on the opposite bed.  
“Course not, I procrastinated, remember? All they had left were these.” Mark explained, perhaps a little too quickly. Ray immediately understood that he may have said a bit too much and decided to stay silent again.  
Shan and Hazel also noticed the slight discomfort in their host, exchanging a glance before Hazel said “Yeah, us too. Thanks to my lovely sister, we didn’t have many other options for staying down here.” She sounded only slightly annoyed, but looked at her sister with a teasing expression.  
Shan merely replied “Oh, shut up, this place isn’t so bad. It’s just a little farther away than the other hotels, that’s all!” But she wasn’t offended in the least, though perhaps a little sheepish at the admittance.  
Turning back to the two men, Hazel continued “We know you guys already, of course, but you don’t have that same advantage, I guess. I’m Hazel Thomas, and this is my sister Shantel.”  
“I prefer just Shan,” the older Thomas said, raising a finger in the air as if declaring an important fact.  
Mark and Ray laughed. “It feels weird not introducing myself, but I guess like you said, you already know us, huh?” Mark commented lightly as each group exchanged (very late) handshakes.  
After the late introductions, Hazel asked the question looming in everyone’s minds. “So what should we do? Any ideas?”  
Ray shrugged in response. “Mark and I didn’t have any plans aside from making a quick vlog for his fans. After that, whatever you guys wanted to do is fine.”  
Judging by the devious smile now forming on her sister’s lips, the older Thomas had yet another plan. Hazel heaved an audible sigh. “Alright Shan, what are you thinking?”  
“Well, I didn’t tell you this before Hazel, because I knew that you would say no, but I did a little research on the town that we’re in,” Shan paused for dramatic effect before continuing. “I’ve planned a bit of a ghost hunt.”  
Hazel shrunk back. “Ghost hunt? What the hell are you talking about?” she cried out with a nervous laugh.  
“Exactly what I said. I found a sort of haunted tour that takes place every night at 8 pm or midnight. I was planning on the midnight tour, but maybe you guys have a different preference?”  
Ray started to protest, not liking the idea of either tour. Time for an excuse. “Well, both of those sound pretty late, and I’ve gotta be at the convention early for last minute prep, sooo…”  
Shan looked a little disappointed but shrugged it off. “That’s fine, you guys don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Hazel, you’re still going with me though, right?”  
Before Hazel could protest, make up an excuse, or just plain say no, Mark piped up. “That sounds pretty cool actually. I’ll go with you guys,”  
The older Thomas flashed a bright smile at him, then turned an expectant eye on her sister. “Hazel?”  
With a sigh, Hazel conceded. “Yeah, sure I’ll go.”  
“Sure you don’t want to come with us, Ray?” Mark asked, looking over to his friend.  
Ray shrugged. “I guess I could go. Yolo, right?” This response raised a cheer out of both Shan and Mark.  
“Yeah, living life on the edge, or something like that, right?” Shan encouraged, and received a sharp glance from her sister for it.  
“Only you could somehow rope all of us into a haunted house tour,” Hazel laughed with a shake of her head. Turning to look at both Ray and Mark, she continued with a half-joking, half apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about her, she gets a bit carried away sometimes.”  
“I think it could be fun,” Mark insisted with a smile. “After all, what could go wrong?”  
\--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---  
It was 7:00 PM and the Thomas sisters were in their hotel room, preparing for the haunted tour in an hour. They had spent an enjoyable afternoon watching both Mark and Ray record a vlog for the fans, though they stayed expertly hidden during the recording, neither girl feeling brave enough to stand in front of the camera (despite Mark insisting that they could jump in anytime they liked).  
After the recording, they got a brief lesson in video editing as Mark starting part of the editing process, giving tips and tricks along the way as Ray watched in obvious amusement. Eventually, however (after Ray finally received his gift from Mark) the two men decided to go back to Ray’s apartment, while the sisters opted to hang out at the hotel a bit longer. All four agreed to meet up again in the hotel lobby around 7:15 to plan how to get to the tour location on time.  
“We can probably take a bus to it. Bus 7 gets pretty close to the parking lot we’re supposed to meet in, and then we can walk the rest of the way,” Shan was saying as she scrolled through Google Maps on her sister’s smartphone.  
“We’re gonna walk around in this rain?” Hazel asked, pointing out the window.  
“Well look, it seems to be clearing up a little bit. I mean, it’s not pouring as hard as it was before,” the older sister tried to counter. She shrunk back at the look on Hazel’s face, then quickly added “Okay, maybe we can grab an umbrella or something if we stop at a Walmart or something. Or maybe the boys will be smart enough to bring umbrellas, and we can just share with them!”  
“Shantel. No.”  
“Come on, we have to get going. They might be in the lobby already, and we don’t want to keep them waiting!” Shan cried impatiently, grabbing at her purse, missing terribly and accidentally spilling the contents of it onto the floor instead. “Dammit…”  
“Stop dropping things everywhere, clumsy, and then we can get out of here on time!” Hazel scolded.  
Shan sighed in frustration. “Of course this would happen right now; Hazel, go down to the lobby and see if they’re there or not. If so, distract them while I clean up this mess. I’ll be down soon, promise!” With that, she knelt down on the floor and began gathering her things back onto the bed to sort through.  
“Okay, just try to be quick,” Hazel called as she left the room. She made her way to the elevator chuckling. Poor Shan, she always seemed especially clumsy when they were in a hurry.  
Once in the lobby, Hazel didn’t see either Ray or Mark, so she sat down in one of the lounge chairs to wait. It wasn’t a terribly long wait before they showed up, though. She looked up when she heard someone call her name, and saw both men hustling into the building.  
Ray approached as she stood, but Mark was speed-walking to the elevator while calling behind his shoulder “I forgot something in my room yet again, so you guys go ahead and talk about how senile old Markiplier is getting! I’ll be right back!” Then he disappeared from view as the elevator closed and started its descent up to the next floor.  
Ray and Hazel laughed at that. “Sillyplier,” Hazel said, shaking her head.  
Then an uncomfortable silence enveloped them. The younger Thomas was racking her brain for anything interesting that she could say, but Ray was slightly quicker on the draw than she was. “So, where’s your sister? Isn’t she the ringleader for this whole affair?” he asked while raising an eyebrow.  
Hazel forced a fan-girlish scream back down from that gesture and simply answered “She’ll be down in a minute.”  
Ray waited for further explanation, but soon realized that Hazel seemed to be done speaking. “I guess that makes sense. Girls always take forever getting ready.”  
He’d meant it as a joke but Hazel couldn’t help but feel protective of her sister; she was always the first to Shan’s defense, and now was no exception. Before her inner fangirl could stop her, Hazel replied “That’s rather sexist of you. Just so you know, my sister is tidying up the room a bit before we leave. She’s being considerate.” Hazel didn’t bother to mention that Shan was the one that had caused the mess in the first place.  
Ray frowned. “Sorry, I was just making a joke. You know, the kind you’re supposed to laugh at and not take seriously?” After Hazel didn’t respond to that right away (too busy being horrified at her own response to an obvious joke), Ray muttered “Never mind.”  
The Puerto Rican debated on whether or not he should just stay silent or continue to try at a conversation. “So are you excited about the tour?” he asked, grasping for any way to end the silence.  
Hazel smiled at the effort. “Honestly? Not at all. I’m not too big on haunted anything; it all creeps me out. I’m surprised that Shan was able to get all of us to go at all. Well, especially since we had no idea we would be running into the two of you.” She looked down and started fiddling mindlessly with the sleeve of her jacket. “She even booked four spaces ahead of time, like she knew we would bring someone else along. Shan can be a bit weird sometimes.”  
Ray laughed. “Yeah, I’m not too big on leaving my apartment, period. So, the fact that it’s late in the day and I’m away from my house is a little weird.” Relieved to have found a comfortable flow of conversation, he was eager to pursue it to the end. “Not that I’m scared or anything, I’m just not sure I believe in all the talk about ghosts. I could be wrong, but I just never saw any proof for it. What about you?”  
The young brunette shrugged. “I don’t believe in ghosts exactly, but I also don’t believe that it’s all made up. There’s something out there that we can’t explain. And I’m not too eager to go and put myself in that kind of situation where I don’t know what to expect.”  
“How are we even going to get to the meet-up place in time? I don’t think we’re gonna make it.”  
Hazel sighed. “Shan already has a plan for that, too. Apparently we’re gonna take a bus close to the parking lot, and then we’re gonna take a ten minute walk the rest of the way there. Which is just great, considering we don’t even have umbrellas and it’s raining pretty bad outside.”  
Ray’s brow furrowed at that. “You guys don’t have umbrellas? Like, at all?”  
Rolling her eyes, Hazel replied “Yes, Ray, I own an umbrella. I just didn’t bring one with me, didn’t think I’d need it in Texas.”  
“You should always bring an umbrella with you, just in case!” he teased, then said in all seriousness “But you and I can just share, it’s no big deal.”  
Hazel was about to protest but instead focused her attention toward the staircase, where she saw her sister bounding toward the duo, with Mark not far behind. Apparently, the two had opted to take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. “Hellooooo my lovely guests! Are you ready for a terrifying night of madness and mayhem?” she cried as she neared the two of them, and Mark slowed down behind her to laugh at her random cheerfulness (though Hazel could guess why).  
“Buh,” was all that her younger sister replied.  
“Oh, don’t be that way! It’s gonna be so much fun! In five minutes, our bus will be here and from there we walk to the parking lot! I’ve planned it all out. But we won’t have time to go and actually purchase umbrellas, so we might have to share.” Shan shot a sideways glance at Mark as she said so, then quickly rushed the next sentence. “Since Mark and I are closest in height, I guess we can share, which leaves you and Ray. Sorry Ray, you’re just a bit too short for me!”  
“Don’t volunteer them!” Hazel scolded.  
“It’s fine, I don’t mind sharing, like I said,” Ray insisted, looking at Hazel with a reassuring smile. Hazel went mute, completely affected by his charm.  
Ray’s smile was confident, but in reality he felt more unconfident than he let on. He wasn’t sure why, but for some reason he actually cared about Hazel’s opinion of him, despite the fact that they had just met. Sure, he had thought she was kind of cute before, but that didn’t mean anything really. At least, that kind of thing had never mattered to him before.  
\--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---  
“Come on, guys, speed it up! We have to be at the meet-up like right now! We’re almost there!” Shan called behind her to the lagging duo as she and Mark were practically skipping on the sidewalk. One of the hyper pair was humming the famous song “Singing in the Rain” while the other was loudly singing out Rihanna’s “Umbrella”.  
By the time they reached the parking lot in question, there was a black Cadillac hearse parked, already patiently waiting for them. Hazel and Ray turned an accusing glance on Shan. “A hearse? Really?” Ray exclaimed in exasperation.  
“Now I’ve got a really bad feeling about this,” Hazel mumbled over to Ray.  
“Well, this looks… promising!” Mark commented, trying his best to stay cheerful.  
If Shan was disheartened by everyone’s response, she certainly didn’t show it. Ignoring everyone else’s comments, Shan ran from under the safety of Mark’s umbrella and sped off toward the hearse. A man (the tour guide, evidently) stepped out of the hearse holding an umbrella, ready to greet his guests. “I am sooo so sorry! How late are we?!” She took a quick glance at her phone as the rest of the party approached.  
“Please don’t worry about it, I know it must have been difficult getting here in this rain. Besides, I wasn’t waiting long. Now everyone get in, before you get soaked!” the man responded warmly and with that, everyone piled into the vehicle, no questions asked.  
They spent the rest of the evening driving around and listening to their tour guide mention various places of interest and the stories behind them, such as the Driskill Hotel, the Inn at Pearl Street, and the Austin Tavern. A few times they were even able to go inside the buildings and here people working at those locations tell their own personal experiences. It wasn’t until the final stop of the night that the real scares started up.  
“Okay folks, this is the last location for the night. As a matter of fact, we may have saved the best for last!” the tour guide called back to his passengers. “This is actually a new addition to our little Haunted ATX tour. The building that you see before you is a family-run Inn called Home Away From Home. It used to be a private mansion, built back in the 1800s, but was eventually sold to the Stafford family, who then decided to turn the place into a bed and breakfast.”  
“About 20 years ago it again changed hands into the current family that runs it, the Rembrants. Guests that have stayed at this little Inn have claimed seeing paranormal activity for years; ever since it was first opened to the public, in fact. However, only recently have these owners given us permission to add this to the haunted tour, because they really tried to refute the fact that it might be haunted.”  
Before the guide could say anymore, Shan asked. “Can we go inside? I can barely see the Inn right now, the rain has gotten worse. I’m sure it’s much more beautiful up close.”  
The guide seemed to hesitate only momentarily before replying. “The Rembrants have given us permission to tour the inside as well, should anyone wish to see it. Sure, we can go inside.”  
Upon entering the mansion, the five were greeted rather somberly by the owners of the hotel, a middle-aged husband and wife, apparently. Mrs. Rembrant greeted them with a quiet but kind hello, saying “Well if it isn’t the host of the haunted tour, how nice to see you again. This must be your tour group for tonight.”  
The tour guide nodded respectfully. “They are. They said that this building was so beautiful that they wanted to get a really detailed look at it. I hope you don’t mind.”  
“Of course not, we gave you permission to come in whenever you’d like. Now please, follow me. Our dining area is one of the most active areas…”  
The owners proceeded to take over the tour, bringing them through the house to point out the most active locations and tell a few experience along the way. Mark and Shan hung on every word, transfixed by the strange happenings. Since Ray and Hazel weren’t quite as into the haunted side of the tour anyway, they kept themselves busy by pointing out their favorite respective items in each room as they passed, critiquing the décor and laughing along the way. If Hazel hadn’t known better, it would have almost felt like a date.  
They were passing through a hallway that branched off into a staircase at one point when Ray heard what sounded like a childish giggle. He turned his head to look up at the banister just above them and saw a girl wearing a navy blue dress with ribbons and pigtails staring him down, a mischievous smile on her face as she laughed again. Her hands were wrapped around the railing as she gazed down at them, then as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone again.  
Ray figured that she must have ran out of his line of sight, and nudged Hazel next to him, muttering “Bad parenting alert.” Hazel looked up at him in confusion. “Oh, you must not have seen her. Excuse me!” Ray flagged down Mrs. Rembrant, who stopped her story immediately to listen.  
“Yes sir, is there something wrong?” she asked in curiosity.  
“Umm, I just saw a little girl playing around upstairs. She looked pretty young, so I assume its way past her bedtime. We should probably find her parents and let them know she’s wandering,” Ray explained, pointing up at the banister as he spoke.  
Instead of acting right away to find the young girl or attempting to locate her parents, the Rembrants both seemed to deflate, Mrs. Rembrant’s face draining of any color. “Was she wearing a navy blue dress, with silky blonde hair?” she asked in a faltering voice.  
Ray raised an eyebrow; they seemed to know the girl. “Yeah, she was. I guess you know her family then. Are they staying here tonight?”  
Mr. Rembrant finally spoke up, as his wife seemed to be suffering a terrible shock (so much so that Shan and the tour guide rushed forward to help her find a chair to sit in). “Yes, we know her very well. She was our daughter, Dawn.”  
Ray blinked, not sure that he was understanding. “Was?”  
“When we first bought this Inn, 20 years back now, she was playing in the hall upstairs. Running around the way all kids do, except she was always a little bit clumsy. The rug upstairs must have been raised at the edge, because she ended up tripping over it and tumbled down that staircase. She,” he swallowed hard before continuing; “she passed at the base of that staircase, before we could so much as call for an ambulance.”  
“I am so sorry!” Hazel said, putting a comforting hand on Mrs. Rembrant’s shoulder as she sat.  
“Wait a minute,” Ray said, his eyes growing wide. “Are you saying—” Before he could finish his thought, Mark started leaning to one side, almost falling over if Hazel hadn’t been there to catch him by the arm.  
“Mark, are you okay?” Shan said, grabbing onto his other arm to keep him steady.  
“Woah. I… I don’t know. I just got really dizzy.” Mark admitted honestly. He looked like he would pass out any minute, which was strange because just a minute ago he had been fine.  
“Should we just get going then?” Shan asked, Mark being her only immediate concern. “Besides, I’m sure that Mr. and Mrs. Rembrant would probably like to get some rest right now.” She wasn’t really sure how to comfort the Inn owners about a tragedy that had happened years ago.  
Mrs. Rembrant smiled weakly. “Thank you for the concern, dear. We’ll be fine; every once in a while we get a hotel guest that claims to have seen her, it’s just still hard to believe sometimes. Anyway, your friend is our main concern. If you’d like to end the tour now, we wouldn’t at all be offended.”  
“Thank you both so much for taking us around your Inn, it’s a lovely building. And I’m so sorry about troubling you, what with your own personal tragedy here,” their tour guide said as they were walked to the front door (Ray and Shan were on either side of Mark in case he started to sway again).  
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Mark said to the owners as they were exiting, although he was obviously out of it at the moment.  
The minute they passed through the threshold of the Inn and into the stormy night, Mark let out a deep breathe. “Man, I don’t know what happened in there, it was like I got blindsided by something. And now I’ve got the worst headache,” he laughed, obviously trying to stay cheerful about the whole thing.  
They all got back into the hearse and the tour guide started driving away from the Inn. “Gee, I hope they didn’t think I was being rude. I mean, they suffered a terrible loss, and here I am, complaining about a dizzy spell,” Mark commented; he obviously felt bad about the whole thing.  
“I don’t think they thought that at all, I’m sure they understood,” Shan said, eager to defend. “It’s my fault, really. I shouldn’t have asked to go inside, you were obviously worn out, and here I am trying to keep the night going.”  
The two of them probably would have gone on forever, trying to insist that the whole thing was their own fault, but their tour guide broke in. “Sorry to interrupt, but since I don’t really have another tour going on tonight, is there anywhere in particular that you’d like to be dropped off? I wouldn’t mind at all.”  
“The La Quinta Inn at Austin Capitol, please,” Ray responded, and before they knew it, they were back outside the hotel thanking the tour guide once again before he drove away. “Umm, Mark, I hate to be a pain, but…”  
“Sure, you can stay with me for the night. It’s a bit late to be on the bus.” Mark replied with a grin, as if he’d read Ray’s mind.  
As they entered the lobby, Shan said “Yeah, besides I think someone should keep an eye on you tonight, Mark. You looked awful at that Inn, what if you’re getting sick?” Then she turned to Ray. “Make sure that the both of you get plenty of rest!”  
“Yes, mom,” Mark chuckled.  
“Oh, and we should all go to RTX together tomorrow! Well… I guess Ray has to get there before us, but still we should all be there together, don’t you think?” Shan added happily, earning a headshake from her sister.  
“Shan, they’ve had a long day, and they’ve had to deal with us all day long. Give them a break!” Hazel scolded.  
Regardless, they all agreed to meet up in the lobby the next morning (without Ray, who unfortunately did have to be there earlier) and leave together for the convention.  
The group split up and headed to their respective rooms for the night. Hazel shivered as she took a long glance out of their hotel window into the dark streets below. The rain that had seemed to be a benevolent, if not insistent force, seemed to instantly turn into a more sinister storm. The clouds grew twice as dark, and the wind picked up until it almost howled at the building’s inhabitants.  
Keep an eye on the rain.


End file.
